In advance of Christmas, Revenue has made a list, checked it twice, and issued updated guidance on how meals provided by employers are treated for tax purposes.
Traditionally, free or subsidised meals in a staff canteen open to everyone are exempt from benefit-in-kind (‘BIK’) tax charges. However, in a spirit of festive good cheer, Revenue has revealed that it is now “willing to accept that meals brought onto, and consumed, on [an] employer’s premises will not be treated as a taxable BIK.”
In short, the basic rule hasn’t changed: benefits provided by an employer are generally taxable unless an exemption applies. However, the new approach broadens that exemption, so it’s no longer limited to formal canteens.
As of 1 October 2025, if meals are available to all staff and eaten on the employer’s premises, they won’t attract a BIK charge. This includes a wide range of food and non-alcoholic drinks – think hot meals, sandwiches, fruit, tea, coffee and soft drinks. Alcohol is still excluded.
Working lunches, where meals are only available to certain employees, are also covered, provided that they’re for genuine operational reasons, eaten on-site and cost no more than €19.25 per person (the Civil Service five-hour subsistence rate). Go over that limit or fail to meet the conditions, and the full amount becomes taxable.
Meal vouchers remain fully taxable, except potentially where they are provided to all staff and limited to meals that are eaten on the employer’s premises. The old €0.19 deduction has been removed, so employees pay tax, PRSI and USC on the full-face value.
In practice, this means businesses without canteens can now offer meals on-site without triggering a tax charge, as long as the rules are followed. Working lunches are fine within the cost and operational limits, but vouchers still generally carry a tax hit.
If you’re reading this at your off-site staff Christmas party and wondering whether your next canapé will result in a hefty tax bill, worry not. Separate Revenue guidance specifies that a staff Christmas party will not result in a taxable BIK where the expenses are reasonable, and the event is open to all employees.
So go ahead, you can eat that vol-au-vent without concern. Safe in the knowledge that nothing really captures the spirit of Christmas more than a limited exemption from Revenue BIK rules.
